Mustangs, rescued from kill pen, find refuge at Va sanctuary

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) insists that the horses the agency captures and brands do not go to slaughter. But the BLM knows, and the slaughter industry knows, that this is not the case. The lie was exposed by none other than an official for a Canadian slaughter industry group deceptively named the “Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada.” Captured on video at a pro-horse slaughter conference in Las Vegas, the official, Bill DesBarres, stated bluntly that BLM-branded mustangs routinely show up on the slaughter floor. When asked how many, he replied with one word: “lots.”

Carol Poole’s Mustangs rescued from slaughter. Source image.

To Carol Poole of the Mustang Freedom Foundation, this admission comes as no surprise. Poole has spent the last year and a half year rescuing more than a dozen mustangs from kill pens. These were wild horses who were captured by the BLM, removed from public lands in the West, adopted through the federal wild horse and burro program, and eventually sold to kill buyers. All of these horses were days away from being shipped to slaughter and most were rescued from just one kill pen – the New Holland, PA Livestock Auction. Such horse slaughter auctions take place all across the country.

In rescuing these horses, Poole’s dream is to restore the freedom that was taken from them so many years ago, or at least to provide a comfortable and safe life for them in their final years.

The BLM as well as the USDA need to be investigated and steps be taken for their efforts to exterminate wild horses/domestic horses. In his “White Paper”, Allen Warren suggests that equines be re-designated as companion/sport animals and not livestock. This designation would offer equines protections that dogs and cats have and they would be saved from slaughter. A new agency not beholden to ranchers and energy/mineral companies should oversee the welfare of wild horses and be held accountable – something that the BLM has not been. The USDA is supposedly talking to China about trade in American horse meat that is slaughtered on our soil. It is totally inappropriate that USDA and BLM have anything to do with our equines. In addition, I believe equines should be our national mammal.

Dear Chris, I have always thought that a Mustang deserved a place of Honor on our Flag , what more deserving beautiful Animal other then the horse belongs there…………………………????????? After all he built the West !!!!!!

You are exactly RIGHT L Norman. The only way to save these magnificent animals is to GET RID OF THE BLM IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. THEY CONTINUALLY LIE ABOUT THEIR ACTIONS. AND THE HORSES/BURROS ARE AT THEIR MERCY. Sadly the Ranchers control them and OUR TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR THIS. UNBELIEVABLE.

STOLEN FROM THEIR LEGAL DOMAIN where they cost the taxpayer zero to be shuffled around from one (most likely) bad situation to another and end up in the hellish slaughter pipeline is criminal. Where is justice? Burns, Reid, Salazar, are all criminals and need to be charged with murder. DISMANTLE THE BLM AND EXPOSE THEIR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY TO ALL AMERICANS THAT THEY ARE STEALING FROM.